Yo! Bum Rush the Show (Public Enemy album)
Yo! Bum Rush the Show is the debut album of American hip hop group Public Enemy, released in April 1987 on Def Jam Recordings. The group's logo, a silhouette of a black man in a rifle's crosshairs, is debuted on the album's cover. Yo! Bum Rush the Show features a sample-heavy sound by production team The Bomb Squad. The album peaked at number 125 on the U.S. Billboard Top LPs chart and at number 28 on the Top Black Albums chart. NME magazine named it the best album of the year in its 1987 critics poll. Along with the Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill (1986) and LL Cool J's Radio (1985), music writer Cheo H. Coker has cited Yo! Bum Rush the Show as one of three of the most influential albums in hip hop history. In 1998, it was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. In 2003, the album was ranked number 497 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Composition According to Jon Pareles of The New York Times, "From its first album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show in 1987, the group marketed itself as a distillation of black anger and resistance. It set out to be the voice of a community, not just one more posse of boasters". Yo! Bum Rush the Show debuts The Bomb Squad's sample-heavy production style, which is prominent on the group's following work. Joe Brown of The Washington Post described the album's music as "a more serious brand of inner-city aggression", in comparison to Licensed to Ill (1986) by Def Jam label-mates the Beastie Boys. On its musical style, Brown wrote "Public Enemy's mean and minimalist rap is marked by an absolute absence of melody - the scary sound is just a throbbing pulse, hard drums and a designed-to-irritate electronic whine, like a dentist's drill or a persistent mosquito". The album's sound is accented by the scratching of DJ Terminator X. Chicago Tribune writer Daniel Brogan described Public Enemy's style on the album as "raw and confrontational", writing that the group "doesn't aim to -- or have a chance at -- crossing over". Reception * Q magazine (9/95, p. 132) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a stunning opening...just the first, in retrospect almost shy, step on a remarkable journey...a hard, droning extension of the basic drum`n'scratch Def Jam template that had served LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys so well." * Melody Maker (7/22/95, p. 35) - Recommended - "It wasn't just a new sound, a discovery. It was like being struck by a meteor." * NME (9/25/93, p. 19) - Ranked #49 in NME's list of The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s. * NME (7/15/95, p. 47) - 9 (out of 10) - "Yo! Bum Rush The Show announced a hip-hop group who smouldered beneath dark, sparse beats like no other, introduced us to the coolest vocal double act ever...and featured as striking a statement of intent as you could wish for in `Public Enemy Number 1'....brilliant." Track listing 1. "You're Gonna Get Yours" (Chuck D, Hank Shocklee) - 4:04 2. "Sophisticated Bitch" featuring Vernon Reid of Living Colour (Chuck D, William Drayton, Flavor Flav, Shocklee) - 4:30 3. "Miuzi Weighs a Ton" (Chuck D, Shocklee) - 5:44 4. "Timebomb" (Chuck D, Shocklee) - 2:54 5. "Too Much Posse" (Chuck D, Drayton, Flav, Shocklee) - 2:25 6. "Rightstarter (Message to a Black Man)" (Chuck D, Shocklee) - 3:48 7. "Public Enemy No. 1" (Chuck D, Shocklee) - 4:41 8. "M.P.E." (Chuck D, Drayton, Flav, Shocklee) - 3:44 9. "Yo! Bum Rush the Show" (Chuck D, Drayton, Shocklee) - 4:25 10. "Raise the Roof" (Chuck D, Eric Sadler, Shocklee) - 5:18 11. "Megablast" (Chuck D, Drayton, Flav, Shocklee) 2:51 12. "Terminator X Speaks With His Hands" (Chuck D, Drayton, Sadler, Shocklee) - 2:13 Personnel * Chuck D - vocals * Flavor Flav - vocals * Hank Shocklee - drum programming * Eric Sadler - drum programming * Terminator X - lead scratch * Hank Shocklee - minimal synth programming * Eric Sadler - minimal synth programming * Stephen Linsley - bass, recording & mixing * Bill Stephney - bass, guitars * Vernon Reid - guitars * Johnny "Juice" Rosado - Rhythm scratch * Rick Rubin - executive producer * Bill Stephney - producer * Carl Ryder (Chuck D) - co-producer * Hank Shocklee - co-producer * Glen E. Friedman - photography * Bill Stephney - mixing * Steve Ett - mixing * Hank Shocklee - mixing * Rick Rubin - mixing Singles * "Public Enemy No. 1" Released: March 1987 * "You're Gonna Get Yours" Released: June 1987 Links * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo!_Bum_Rush_the_Show See Also * List of Albums * 1981 hip-hop Category:1987 hip-hop Category:1987 albums Category:Albums Category:American hip-hop Category:American hip-hop albums Category:1980's hip-hop Category:Public Enemy albums Category:Wikipedia Category:Def Jam Recordings albums Category:1987 debut albums